I'll Be Back
by stavie93
Summary: Sawyer has to leave to look for a missing security member. Dharmatimes. Suliet.


**Authors Note:** I will definitely be doing a multichapter Suliet reset fic in the very near future! I'm very excited about it. I've got a plan and a start, but I want to get some of it done before I start posting. I'm anticipating it to be a long one!

As for this story I feel like it could work as a oneshot, but I do have some ideas for continuing. If you'd like to see more let me know!

While working on my reset fic I will probably continue to do some Dharma oneshots.

I've also been toying with the idea of writing some for another of Elizabeth Mitchell's shows, Revolution. (Let me know if you'd be interested in that as well!)

 **Disclaimer:** Lost is still not mine. =(

Please read and review!

 **I'll Be Back**

Juliet slept soundly in the small yellow house she shared with her best friend. A cool breeze came in through her open window blowing the curtains away from the wall. The blankets on her bed were strewn haphazardly around the queen size mattress. She wore a tank top and shorts, but still found herself too warm in the island heat even with the breeze from the window. She was laying on her stomach, head turned to one side, and dreaming about Miles and Sawyer making her dinner for a change when she heard her name being called out.

"Juliet!" Sawyer yelled into her room as he passed it on the way to his.

She didn't say anything, hoping he'd go away. And what was he doing home anyway? Didn't he have the over night security shift?

"Jules!" Sawyer stuck his head in her doorway and tried again. "Come on, Jules. I gotta go!"

She was awake now and noticed the worry in his voice. She sat up. "What's going on?" She asked, but he was already back down the hall.

Juliet caught up with Sawyer in the kitchen. He was filling a canteen with water from the sink. "What are you doing?" She asked while rubbing the sleep from her eyes and trying to adjust to the bright kitchen lights.

Sawyer turned towards her. "I gotta go." He quickly turned back to the sink and capped his canteen. "You know Alex the new guy?" Juliet nodded. Alex had come in with the last sub and was the newest addition to the security team, a team Sawyer had taken charge of only a few months ago. "We lost him." Sawyer continued. "He never came back from his afternoon shift and he coulda wandered into hostile territory during patrol."

The last time Juliet had seen Sawyer this serious about something was when he was trying to get them all accepted into the Dharma Initiative, into thirty years in the past where they didn't belong. She didn't like where this was going. "So you're going to go look for him?" She asked.

"We're taking the team." Sawyer replied as he shoved the canteen into a backpack. "Me, Horace, Miles, Jin, and Jerry." He looked up. "There's been a lot of strange hostile activity lately." He ran a hand through his hair. He'd been avoiding telling Juliet about the hostiles. He knew she'd want to help deal with them.

Juliet crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you mean _strange_ _hostile_ _activity_?" She asked with a look that could cut glass.

Sawyer sighed. "They've been hanging out by the fence a lot lately. And you remember that flat we got out by the Flame that Kenny came and fixed?" Juliet nodded. "It wasn't just a flat. Someone slashed the tire. I made him promise not to tell anyone." Sawyer ignored Juliet's gaze which had intensified with each of his sentences. He returned to checking the contents of his pack before zipping it closed.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked. Her face said angry, but her tone of voice was almost hurt.

Sawyer slung the bag over his shoulder and picked up his rifle. "I didn't want you to worry." He admitted.

"I could've helped." She reminded him. "I could've talked to them, to Richard."

"I know." He met her gaze. "I didn't want you getting involved."

"Why not?" She was defensive again.

"I didn't want to risk blowing our cover." He said, a half truth.

But she saw right through him. "And?" The arms she'd lowered were back in front of her chest. "You thought I'd mess everything up? Didn't want to ask for help in front of your friends?"

Sawyer stared blankly at her for a moment. _Damn she looked hot when she was angry._ It was a fact he often forgot until it was staring right at him. He shook his head and met her eyes with his own. "I didn't want you to get hurt." He said low and serious.

Juliet softened. "I'm a big girl you know?"

He nodded. "I gotta get going." He said and started for the door. "I have no idea how long we'll be gone. Last we knew they were camped on the other side of the island." He turned back to Juliet when he got to the door. "No clue what they've been doing over here."

She opened the door for him. "My Others spidey senses tell me they're up to no good." She gave him a small smile with the joke despite the seriousness of the situation. "Sure you don't want me to come?"

Sawyer took a step out the door and shook his head. "Nah." He said turning back around to face her from the other side of the doorway. "I'd feel better if you stayed here and held down the fort."

Juliet nodded. She understood. She didn't like it, but she understood. He started again to leave, but she stopped him. "James." He turned around, this time from the other side of the porch and looked at her standing in the doorway. "You make sure you come back." She told him. "And the others. Don't you leave me here alone."

He watched as she looked at him expectantly, but with a hint of sadness. Did she really think what they were going into would be that dangerous? Did she really think there was a possibility he wouldn't return? She absently twirled a lock of hair at the side of her face and he realized there was one thing he had to do before he left. If he could die in that jungle and never see her face again he didn't want any regrets. For the first time Sawyer let his heart lead him.

He crossed the porch confidently until he was standing inches away from his best friend and roommate. She lowered her hand from her hair and looked up at him, brow slightly furrowed in confusion.

Sawyer wasted no time. His hand cupped the back of her neck as he crashed his lips onto hers. Juliet was stunned, but it took only seconds before she responded in kind. One hand snaked through his hair while the other marveled at the combination of soft skin and rough stubble she found on his cheek.

He pulled away as abruptly as he'd started. He licked his lips and smiled. "I'll be back." He said with finality and headed back down the porch steps to the security station. He decided if he died in the jungle at least he would forever have that last image of Juliet burned into his brain. Her tousled hair, kiss swollen lips curved into a smile, and soft body all backlit by the lights of the kitchen in the home that they shared.


End file.
